Vikings Wiki:Article Guidelines
This guideline page will detail the requirements in an article and an edit to be considered appropriate. General *Content on character pages should only be summarized. Details should be added to the episode pages. *Other pages should only be linked on its first use and only once per section/heading in a page. If the article is considerably short, do not keep linking anymore. *Do not link headings. This is quite inconvenient for mobile users because the link will be clicked when they try to expand a section. *Italicize the show title and its episodes. When used in articles, put the linked episode title inside quotation marks and italicize. Page Format *To see what the proper format for a character page should be, go here. *To see what the proper format for an episode page should be, go here. Grammar and Spelling In order to communicate information effectively and to maintain a professional touch, proper use of grammar and spelling is vital. Edits with poor grammar and misspellings may be undone, so please take a moment to re-read what you have written and use spell check. Cite your references Although citations can cause some frustration for the writer, the process is simple and necessary to differentiate between fact and fanfiction and can also help readers determine when exactly an event first occurred or was referenced in the series. In the case of real-world information, it is vital to distinguish fact from opinion, rumor, and vandalism. References may be a reference to which episode a certain fact was established, or a linked reference to an external source about facts that are not stated on the show. Unnecessary content Fanfiction stories, non-canon topics, opinons, assumptions and theories, rumors, and other false information do not belong tinarticles. However, you are free to share these through blogs or your user pages. Editing Conflicts Since we allow anyone to edit, it follows that we assume that most people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it. Edit wars are common on wikis, so hopefully, this will help you understand every users' stands. There are always two sides to wars, and to both sides, the other one is bad, and the other is good. In the wiki, let us assume that the edit war is because of differing opinions among users. When a user does not agree with something another user has written, they tend to change it (even revert it), and the user who has made the edit may end up offended or protective of his/her edit. If this is the case, the users must try and settle the issue like adults on their own message walls, instead of continuing the edit-undo cycle with edit summaries that get harsher and harsher. This can avoid misunderstandings and prevent problems from escalating. If the issue still persists, then it is time for an administrator to interfere (or you could, you know.. approach us). If a consistent edit seems to be wrong and more harmful than helpful, and has no facts to base on, approach an admin for immediate action. Particularly, avoid reverting good faith edits. Only resort to reverting on very obvious vandalism or something that not only you would disagree on. When you can reasonably assume that something is a well-intentioned error, correct it without just reverting it or labeling it as vandalism. When you disagree with someone, consider using message walls to explain yourself, and give others the opportunity to do the same. If there is a problem, it's best to ask the user about the issue first, then take any additional steps if need be. For more information, read the Policies page. Protection Administrators can protect and unprotect pages. Protection of a page or image can mean that a non-admin cannot edit or move it. Full protection is when only administrators (sysops) can move or edit a page. The majority of pages on all Wikia should remain publicly editable, and not protected. Pages may, however, be protected on certain grounds, particularly maintenance, and other reasons statied below. Uses *Protecting highly vandalised pages, such as the main page on busy wikis. *Protecting a page or image that has been a recent target of persistent vandalism or persistent edits by a banned user. *Enforcing a "cool down" period to stop an edit war, upon request. *Protecting documents such as minutes or policies that have gone through a formal approval process. *Protecting the often-used texts in the MediaWiki namespace (these are protected automatically). *Maintaining the integrity of the site's logo and favicon. *Maintaining the integrity of key copyright and license pages. *Maintaining the integrity of past press releases. Less than full protection This is an example of what you might do temporarily if several different IP addresses are vandalizing a page. This allows long-time users to edit, but protects a page from Anonymous users and newly registered ones. The MediaWiki software now lets administrators pick several options short of full protection. These are good for temporary protection, particularly when resisting persistent vandalism or repeated spam. These are also used to reduce vandalism on high-profile pages (such as featured articles or highly used templates), while still allowing as many legitimate users as possible to edit.